The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Panthers fall to Eagles in overtime
TJ Kwasniak shed some tears and spent a good bit of time in Euclid’s locker room following the Panthers’ 77-71 overtime loss to St. Edward in a Division I Cleveland regional semifinal.
Euclid, in Kwasniak’s second year as the Panthers’ head coach, won its first district title since 1995.
Reggie Priah’s 3-pointer at the buzzer forced overtime and gave Euclid an extra four minutes to advance to a regional final.
Instead, the Eagles clamped down on the Panthers in the additional period and advanced to the Cleveland regional final against Uniontown Green on March 16.
“I’ve never seen that much hurt in a long time,” Kwasniak said. “I told the kids, that’s because of what you built. Last year didn’t hurt as bad, I imagine the years prior didn’t. It hurts because we did it the right way, because of what we put into it, because of the relationships we built with each other.”
Junior Garvin Clarke led all scorers with 27 points for Euclid. Priah added 15 in his final high school game. Senior Mario Lacy Jr. recorded a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds.
Devontae Blanton led four St. Edward players in double-figures with 21 points. Grant Huffman scored 17 points, Montorie Foster added 13 and Demetrius Terry chipped in 12.
Euclid opened the game with authority. The Panthers led, 20-14, after a quarter then went ahead, 35-25, midway through the second period. The Eagles countered with a 12-0 run then went up, 40-37, at half on Huffman’s 3-pointer.
“I thought we came out, punched them in the mouth,” Kwasniak said. “You know them, they’re used to taking punches, they responded. But then I thought we took a couple punches and we just kept battling and battling.”
St. Edward built a 58-53 lead headed into the fourth quarter and was up, 65-60, in the game’s final minute. Clarke knocked down a pair of free throws, matched by makes from Blanton. Clarke drove the length of the floor for a layup and, after the Eagles missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw chance, Priah banked in the game-tying 3 that stood after an official discussion.
The Eagles went up, 7468, in overtime before another 3 by Priah brought Euclid within three. Josh Ogle made a pair of free throws and Grant Huffman added another to secure St. Edward’s win.
Eagles coach Eric Flannery saw history almost repeat itself March 13. Last year, St. Edward was eliminated in the regional round when the Eagles missed a free throw and Lorain made a 3-pointer to force overtime and knock St. Edward out of the state tournament.
“I don’t think we were tough enough last year to win this game,” Flannery said. “This year, I thought our guys, even got down one right away in the overtime, I thought we grew up a little. We did a better job, at least in overtime, of controlling the tempo, finishing, making some free throws.”
Kwasniak said Clarke was the best player on the floor against St. Edward and helped the Panthers play a game worthy of victory.
Expectations will be high for the rising senior in the 2019-20 season.
“He’s wanting the ball,” Kwasniak said. “He’s becoming that killer, his understanding is getting there, his confidence. Now, I’ve never been around a kid with his talent that is as humble as he is, almost to a fault.”
The Panthers lose a host of leaders as Priah, Lacy, Octavius Hardy, Latrayl Alexander and the rest of their senior class graduates. After Will Saunders and Emari Baddour laid a foundation last season, Euclid’s Class of 2019 added to the program’s expectations.
“They have a lot of personality and they pushed each other,” Kwasniak said. “For the first time now in Euclid, we have a young group that got to see seniors doing it the right way. That’s what the good programs have.”
“He’s becoming that killer, his understanding is getting there, his confidence. Now, I’ve never been around a kid with his talent that is as humble as he is, almost to a fault.”
— Euclid coach T.J. Kwasniak, on the Panthers’ Garvin Clarke